Befuddled conservatives are not pleased with YouTube's decision to permanently ban right-wing political commentator Dan Bongino from its platform. According to Newsweek, many of Bongino's conservative fans have taken to social media to express their disapproval of the video-sharing platform's decision to remove "The Dan Bongino Show."
"@YouTube banned @dbongino for speaking the truth! The problem is they just don't want you to hear it...... The End!" tweeted Graham Allen, a conservative U.S. army veteran who is currently running for a Congressional seat in South Carolina.Brent Bozell, President of Media Research Center News Busters, also weighed in to suggest that Bongino's ban was biased. "Now YouTube has permanently banned Dan Bongino—one of the most popular conservative stars around. Yet, the news media still pretend there's no censorship of the right. Conservatives better wake up. The press never will," Bozell tweeted.
Bongino's ban follows a week-long suspension from YouTube earlier this month after he claimed in one of his videos that masks are "useless" in mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Trump enthusiasts Diamond and Silk also chimed in with their disapproval of the ban tweeting, "YouTube bans Dan Bongino, but everyone who pushed Russia Collusion, which was a lie, still has their channels!"
Prior to his channel being banned, Bongion had nearly 900,000 subscribers. However, his Rumble account currently stands at 2 million. Now, conservative commentator Jeremy Frankel also tweeted to encourage Bongino's YouTube audience to follow him on Rumble as an alternative.
"YouTube's loss. At least now we all know it's the Communist echo chamber they always wanted to be but never could admit to being. Subscribe to @dbongino's Rumble channel: https://rumble.com/Bongino," conservative commentator Jeremy Frankel tweeted.
As the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, YouTube incorporated strict policies to combat the spread of misinformation on its platform. From conspiracy theories to misinformation about COVID-19, the vaccine, and the presidential election, YouTube has removed a number of accounts belonging to right-wing influencers contributing to the spread of harmful information.
Like most right-wing figures who have been kicked off mainstream social media platforms, Bongino will likely turn his focus toward alternative avenues to spread his message.